The Federation of Small Businesses in Wales is urging the Welsh Government to deliver a pro-small business Draft Budget, saying SMEs are looking for proactive measures which will improve their operating conditions.
Wales’s largest business group says the Draft Budget, which will be published on 10th December, is an opportunity for the Welsh Government to boost jobs and growth.
It urgently calls for specific measures to ease cost pressures and for investment in the enablers of growth, including our skills landscape and critical transport infrastructure.
FSB is calling on the Welsh Government to:
- Extend Business Rates Relief: Retaining or extending the relief for hospitality, retail, and leisure sectors to at least 40%, which would mirror the level in England. These sectors have experienced a prolonged period of difficult economic conditions. With low consumer spending and disproportionately high costs still affecting some businesses’ viability, they still need support to recover.
- Freezing the Business Rates Multiplier: Implementing a freeze on the multiplier used to calculate Business Rates for the 2025/26 budget year. This short-term measure will provide much-needed relief until long-term measures, such as a differential SME multiplier, can be introduced.
- Investing in Apprenticeships: Restoring funding for Apprenticeships in Wales to pre-European funding levels to nurture the next generation of skilled workers and improve productivity.
- Prioritising Infrastructure: Investing strategically in critical infrastructure, including transport networks and road maintenance. The additional funding from the UK Autumn Statement allocated for pothole repairs should be used to address similar infrastructure priorities in Wales.
- Protecting Business Support Institutions: Ensuring that Wales’s Business Support institutions maintain their current funding levels and develop and grow business support funding in areas which could drive up productivity including management and leadership support, innovation support, skills development and commercial expertise.
Ben Cottam, Head of Wales at the Federation of Small Businesses, said:
“Small and medium businesses are the lifeblood of the Welsh economy and are rooted in our communities, helping create a sense of vibrancy in our villages, towns and cities.
“We must recognise that the Welsh Government’s Draft Budget will be introduced against a difficult economic backdrop. Inflation and energy costs are spiking, whilst businesses are facing increases in employment costs, placing significant pressure on many small and medium-sized employers.
“There is an opportunity to introduce a Draft Budget that boosts jobs and growth by delivering proactive measures to improve the conditions in which Welsh businesses operate, including using the business rates system to encourage small businesses to expand and utilising business support to boost productivity.
“To stimulate sustainable economic growth and create a thriving business environment requires strategic support and investment in key infrastructure, including transport networks and our skills landscape.
"Now is the time to help small businesses navigate this difficult period, ensuring they are best positioned to invest, employ and be our future growth engine.”
ENDS
